Seven years ago, Jay-Z told Roger Goodell that if their partnership was about getting him on the Super Bowl stage, they could end the conversation right there.
Now he’s taking that stage himself. The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday night that Jay-Z will headline the halftime show on February 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
It’s a twist that makes sense in hindsight. Roc Nation has worked with the NFL since 2019, advising on and helping produce the league’s entertainment presentations, halftime included.
So the man shaping the biggest musical slot on American TV from behind the curtain is finally stepping in front of it.
Goodell says he was hoping for this all along. The commissioner said that when the league first reached its deal with Roc Nation, he had one request: that Jay-Z perform “whenever the moment felt right to him.”
Apparently the moment is now. From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl halftime stage, this has been a journey,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world’s biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true.”
The timing lines up with the celebration he’s already on. Jay-Z has been marking the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt, his 1996 debut, with three sold-out nights at Yankee Stadium and sold-out shows in London and Paris. The run wrapped over the weekend at, of all places, SoFi Stadium.
Those shows were stacked with guests. At SoFi, his daughter Blue Ivy played piano on The Story of O.J. and Dead Presidents, while Scarface, John Legend and DJ Khaled turned up on opening night.
Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Too Short joined Saturday’s finale, and the Yankee Stadium dates featured Beyoncé, Rihanna, Eminem and Nas.
That guest list will fuel plenty of guessing about February. Beyoncé has already performed at two Super Bowls, and Dre and Snoop were part of the 2022 halftime show in this very building.
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has won 25 Grammys from 89 nominations, second only to his wife. His catalogue runs through The Blueprint, The Black Album, Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem), 99 Problems and Empire State of Mind with Alicia Keys. Reasonable Doubt entered the Grammy Hall of Fame last year.
The business résumé is just as long. The Brooklyn rapper co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records, launched Roc Nation in 2008, became the first rapper in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
He’s also a four-time Emmy winner, and that count could grow. Roc Nation will executive produce with Hamish Hamilton directing, and the halftime show has become an awards magnet.
Bad Bunny’s performance in February won a record seven Emmys, including best variety special (live), while Kendrick Lamar’s show last year won for music direction.
Skeptics will ask how a company producing a show starring its own founder keeps the bar where Bad Bunny and Kendrick left it.
Fans have until February 14 to find out, and the guessing over who joins him on stage has already started.
